


Behind the Scenes

by D_Joana_a_Shippadora



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Hearing Problems, M/M, cinema
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 10:18:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11689584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D_Joana_a_Shippadora/pseuds/D_Joana_a_Shippadora
Summary: Eduard, an award-winning scriptwriter, discovers that the studio had changed the property master in the first day of filming of his movie. But he hasn’t figured out how that will change his life.





	Behind the Scenes

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> I hope you enjoyed this one as much I loved to write it!  
> This one is a little angst, but is more an "oh, poor thing! D:" than anything...
> 
> Have a good reading!

Everything seemed normal to Eduard. It was the first day of filming of the movie _The Lonely Wolf_ , a feature film he wrote and that he was sure it would be nominated for the Oscars.  
In the world of cinema, everyone knew the name of Eduard von Bock, the great Estonian writer who appeared only a few years ago, but whose stories conquered the world in a short time. A close friend of Finnish director Tino Väinämöinen, who was in charge of the film, he knew that his film would be, as always, perfect.  
… Or almost.  
The truth was that there was something that made him uncomfortable since he could be considered a perfectionist. The props. He had worked with that studio before and disliked the chosen props, but when he went to complain to her, he didn’t have the courage to tell her. She looked like she was going to cry at any moment, apologizing even before Eduard opened his mouth. Unless she read thoughts, she should be the kind of person who cries for everything and for nothing. At least the film was well received and no one complained about the props...  
Anyway, he was ready to see a scene with props that were by no means to his liking. However, when he saw the scenery, he felt himself dreaming; everything was spotless. It was as he had imagined. Everything down to the smallest details.  
Eduard was fascinated.

"What is it, Eduard?" Tino asked, approaching him with his script in hand. "Looks like you saw the most beautiful woman in the world!"  
"Don’t even try, Tino!" Eduard smirked. "I'm just surprised. The scenery looks different. "  
"Ah!" Tino exclaimed, understanding what he meant. "Irunya is on maternity leave. We have another property master now. "  
"Who?"  
"Simon Densen, but he..." Tino was interrupted by a female voice.  
"Tino! Come here, boy! "  
"But I'm a dog to call me that way, Liz?" He asked, rhetorically and smiling at the joke, and went to her, without finishing what he was going to say to Eduard.

For some reason, the information that Tino was going to say seemed to be important to Eduard, but he decided to ignore it and went to look for Simon. He had to know the genius who had captured the essence of the scenery so perfectly.  
As he knew practically nothing about Simon, he decided to look for the best source that existed in that studio: Raivis Galante, one of the hairdressers. As soon as he arrived at the area for aesthetic purposes, he almost laughed when he saw the Latvian on a small bench to be able to comb the Czech actress, who would play the protagonist's best friend.

"M-Morning..." Eduard greeted, struggling to not to laugh.  
"Goddammit, Eduard, stop it doing that whenever you see me on the bench!"  
"But it's funny!"  
"It is not!"  
"It happens to be, Raivis," the Czech said, amused by the situation.  
"Aaah, don’t stand on his side, Kveta...!"

The Czech laughed at Raivis's fumbling face. It was simple to make the Latvian cry that it was incredible.

"It is by these and by others that you are divorced," but Raivis knew how to be ruthless. He knew how to hit the weaknesses of others with dexterity; this was due to the fact that the small but adult spent too much time with cameraman Ivan. "Your hair is ready."  
"Hmpf! For your information, Janko misses me!" she tried to defend herself, rising from her chair and watching her hair in the mirror; the expression on her face showed a trace of sadness.  
"So are you going to be a couple again?"  
"I-I n-never said that!"

Embarrassed, but no longer sad, she left and went to the stage, ready to play.  
Meanwhile, Eduard glanced at Raivis, who was arranging the material.

"You huh..."  
"What?"  
"Nothing, forget it..." He waved his hand as a sign to forget it. "I have something to ask you."  
"You can ask."  
"Do you know who Simon Densen is?"  
"The new props master?" Raivis asked rhetorically, curious to know why Eduard wanted to know who this guy was. "I know him. He's right there in the middle of the boxes," he said, pointing to a tall, blond man. Eduard smiled, as if in a silent thank-you, and started to walk to Simon. "W-Wait!"

Without waiting, Eduard continued. He was excited to meet him.

"Simon Densen," he called out, but the props master didn’t turn around; it seemed he hadn’t even listened to him. Was he ignoring him or was he so focused on those burgundy fabrics? "Simon?" He called back, but no answer. It was starting to irritate him. "Hi, are you listening to me?"

Eduard lifted his hand and touched his shoulder. Simon seemed frightened, and turned quickly to the Estonian; although the movement was quick, Eduard managed to dazzle a hearing aid in his ear.

"Oh, you were talking to me? Sorry, I can’t hear when people talk from behind. "  
"I-I apologize, I didn’t know..."

Simon looked a little surprised at the Estonian, who didn’t understand the reason for that look. Suddenly the property master opened a big smile.

"It's all right! Want something?"  
"Ah... I just came to congratulate you on the good choice of props," Eduard began, pondering whether he could hear him or not. "I’m the scriptwriter and your choice corresponds exactly to what I imagined."  
"Oh! Are you Eduard von Bock? "He asked, raising his voice unconsciously, so excited that he was. "I love your script! Oh, by the way, my name is Simon... "  
"Densen, I know," said the Estonian, adjusting his glasses. His cheeks were red with praise. "And thank you."  
"I just say the truth! Oh, I have to take these fabrics to the stage. "  
"Sorry for being in the way!"  
"What an idea! Of course, you aren't in the way! "

The property master grabbed the fabric and hurried on to the stage; as he walked, whistled, happy to have been recognized by a great screenwriter.  
Raivis approached Eduard, sighing.

"I told you to wait..."  
"Is he deaf?"  
"No, he can hear, but he has hearing problems," he began. "As far as I know, he had a high fever as a child and began to listen badly..."  
"Oh, it must have been difficult..." Eduard commented, feeling bad for Simon. "And you're a big gossip, Raivis."  
"Everyone knows... You'd end up hearing sooner or later." Raivis looked where they were before, to see if any actor or actress needed to get their hair done. "They all love him, but he's not our primary advisor because of the hearing problem."  
"What…?"  
"The studio owner wants to avoid mistakes at all costs, so Simon was Irunya's helper. And he didn’t have the courage to make her cry, something that is very simple, so he never said his opinions about her work..."  
"You're easy to make yourself cry, too."  
"I even want to cry just because of this...!"

Both Eduard and Raivis began to laugh at that. Raivis stepped back into his work zone. The tallest, however, decided to go see the scenery again and observed everything Simon rode. He was so excited and seemed to have no problem communicating with others. Wait, he just asked someone to repeat something. Well, he knew how to deal with the situation, that was important. So he found the studio owner's decision unfair and prejudiced.

***

The first day of filming was over and everything went as planned. If they continued like this, they would finish within the desired time, or perhaps even earlier, and that would be excellent.  
If they could also reduce planned spending, even better! Anyway, he was putting away his things when Tino came out of nowhere and dragged him to a bar near the studio.

"On the first day of filming!" The director exclaimed, raising his beer mug.  
"Yey," murmured Eduard, unwillingly, toasting his mug. "Why did you drag me here? Really?"  
"Raivis told me you talked to Simon."  
"That gossipy man!"

Tino laughed with gusto and sipped his beer from a random German mark. Then he assumed an extremely serious expression.

"If you become his friend," he began, calmly. It didn’t look like he was going to say such a foolish thing. "Make him introduce me to his friend!"  
"God, are you drunk already?!"  
"I'm serious, Eduard!" He exasperated, tapping the mug on the table. "The other day, I met him on the street and he was with a friend who was totally my type! I mean, he looked at me in a scary way, but he's still my type! "  
"You have no remedy, Tino!"  
"I know," he grumbled, drinking back his beer. "But if you do this great favor to me, his name is Berwald."

The writer put his hands on his face, wishing it was just a joke. But when he realized that no, this was not a joke, Tino was really serious about this Berwald. Meanwhile, Tino had finished his beer while he barely touched his, and he was about to order another.

"Okay... But stop drinking, we have work tomorrow!"  
"It's just another mug!"

***

"And... Cut!" Tino rose from his chair, arms folded. He was angry, the product of the hangover he was having. Maybe he should have stopped drinking when Eduard warned him. "Hell, Gilbert, I told you not to laugh like that...!"  
"But this laugh is the mark of the incredible me!"  
"It makes me have headaches, that's what it is!"  
"Who told you to drink more than you should...?"  
"You're not helping, Eduard!"  
"I didn’t want to."

Faced with such a scene, Gilbert, the protagonist of the film, began to laugh scandalously. Everyone knew Gilbert because of his eccentric personality and his rare appearance; he was albino.

"But it's true that the protagonist, Klaus, doesn’t laugh that way." Eduard continued, leafing through the script in his hands. "A simple "hahaha" would be nice."  
"Ha! In your face, Gilbert! "  
"Tino, Gilbert may be an idiot, but, as a director, you can’t do that."  
"Don’t be like that to me, Liz!" Gilbert exasperated, shocked at the attitude of Tino's personal assistant. "We're childhood friends!"  
"How did I survive with you by my side...?"

Those who were present laughed at the caricature situation, however, common between Gilbert and Elizabeta. Eduard looked to the side and noticed that Simon wasn’t understanding what was happening. He tried to ask someone, and after not being able to hear the answer clearly, he asked again, but the person simply told him to forget. This irritated Eduard, of course; if Simon wanted to know what was going on, he had the right to understand. With that in mind, he approached Simon.

"Hey, Simon," he called and the Dane looked at him. "Do you want to know what's going on?"

Simon's face brightened and he shook his head positively. He was so happy with that simple gesture that made Eduard smile.

***

"Thank you very much, Eduard!"

Eduard looked at Simon; it had been two weeks since the two of them had met, and now they were in a cafe drinking coffee. They did very well, so well that Tino had already begun to send hints about Berwald.

"For what?"  
"For helping me whenever is possible!" Simon looked at his coffee; he was a little embarrassed, so he couldn’t look at Eduard's face. "No one helped me that much."  
"Neither Berwald?"  
"Do you know Berwald?"

_Come on, Eduard, you just got your foot in it!_ , he thought, with his eyes wide. Ah, how to escape this? He didn’t know. The way it had to be honest...

"Tino told me about him..."  
"Oh, yes, he already knew him," Simon remembered, smiling then. "I think Berwald liked him.~ He called him cute and everything.~"  
"Oh really? Tino has such a crush on him that I don’t even know what to say. "  
"We have to join them!"

They began discussing plans to paired them up, some so caricatured and ridiculous just to embarrass them.

"How did you meet Berwald?"  
"It was in college. He would take notes for me and I would speak for him. "  
"You speak for him...?"  
"He had some diction problems as a child and suffered from bullying," said the Danish; in his face, there was nostalgia. "So he said little and I was one of the few people he talked to. But he spoke in a certain tone of voice so I could hear him. We're big friends!"  
"I understand..."  
"Once upon a time..." he began to laugh; what he was going to tell was very funny, at least for him. "There were some people in college who spoke ill of me behind my back, literally, but I didn’t hear them. Berwald was so angry he almost fell in the fight with them!"

Simon continued to talk about Berwald and how incredible he was; quickly became a monologue with stories lived by the duo of Nordics. And for some reason that Eduard didn’t understand, he didn’t like the affection with which Simon told his stories.

***

Everything seemed to be normal, though, there was something that was bothering Eduard. Where the hell was Simon? He didn’t see him anywhere and that was worrying him. As soon as the lunch break was announced, the Estonian decided to look for the property master. He looked for everything that was siege and nothing. He was getting frustrated, of course, he didn’t come to work? No, Raivis said he had come. So where was he?  
He decided to look for the small storage room; almost no one went there because it was no longer used to being so busy. He opened the door and opened his eyes wide as he saw Simon there, hugging his own legs.

"S... Simon...? It's all right…?"

Simon looked at Eduard, shocked that he was there. The Estonian quickly noticed that the other had red eyes; he had been crying. He leaned forward, worried. His heart was racing.  
"W... What is it ?!"  
"N-Nothing..."  
"You were crying! Something happened...! "  
"It's... It's just my ear. It's hurting. So much."  
"Go to the doctor!"  
"N-No! I don’t want!"

Eduard didn’t understand the fear that was present in the other's voice; was he terrified of doctors? From hospitals?

"Why?" He dared to ask, but all he could do was make him look down. "Please, Simon, I want to help..."  
"I... I don’t want to find out whether or not I'll be completely deaf."  
"Oh..."  
"You… You're the only one I can hear clearly, so... A-And if I never hear your voice again? What if this is the last time I can hear you? "

Eduard felt his face warm; it seemed like a declaration of love...

"Simon, I'm sure it's not bad..."  
"You are sure?"  
"Yes."  
"Right... I'll go to the doctor."

***

"It's the same! It hasn’t gotten worse! "  
"Oh really? Good!~ "

The Dane grabbed Eduard's hands, didn’t care if there were people around them. The smaller one blushed with it and looked sideways; ah, there was Tino grinning at them.

"Thank you for persuading me to go to the hospital!"  
"A-Ah, you're welcome..."  
"I’m so happy! Glad that I decided to be a props master or I would never have met you!"  
"Why did you decide to be a property master, by the way?" In a vain attempt to change the subject, Eduard asked, making him let go of his hands.  
"You know, when you don’t hear well, you have to ask people to repeat constantly," he began as he walked. Eduard accompanied him. "But many people don’t have the patience for that, always saying to forget what they said. It's sad because we feel excluded. "  
"It must have been complicated..."  
"And it was! But I never gave up! I kept on making friends and went to all the class meetings. We often went to the cinema, but... "  
"You didn’t understand what was said..."  
"That’s right. And there were few movies that we saw with subtitles... So I focused on the images, the scenarios... And that's when I fell in love with the props. It was something I could do. "

Simon stopped walking and stared at the scenery. All that was in him was the one who decided, who positioned as he understood. Without interference, with all the freedom in the world. It was what he wanted most. He felt free even with his limits.

"Simon, I have a request to make... A little strange. Can I say it...?"  
"Of course!"  
"Can I... Make a movie about you?"  
"What?"  
"It would only be based on your life, the protagonist would have a different name..."  
"Right!~ I look forward to seeing it!"

***

It was the pre-debut of the movie _Behind the Scenes_  by Eduard von Bock, the first work written _and_ realized by him; he never realized a movie before. There were high expectations among the critics, after all, he was a renowned screenwriter. He always amazed people with their eccentric and intriguing plots, and this time he wouldn’t disappoint.  
But he wanted to surprise Simon, especially at the end. The Dane was by his side, and thanks to the legends Eduard had insisted on putting, he was understanding the story; his history.

"Mathias..." murmured the character who represented Eduard, whose name was Robin. "I have something to say... A little strange... Can I say?"  
"Of course!"

Simon looked at Eduard, who was focused on his film. The Dane already knew what Robin was going to say; was the request to make the film. Just like the reality.

"I..."

Simon noticed that Eduard's cheeks were starting to turn red, so he looked at the screen and his eyes widened as he read the caption.

"I love you, Mathias."

The props master turned back to the Estonian who had lowered his gaze in sheer shame. Simon felt euphoric and bent over him.

"Really, Eduard?"  
"Y-Yes..."  
"I love you too. ~"

As soon as he pressed his lips to Eduard's, the lights went on and they all rose from their seats, clapping their hands. They liked that masterpiece. But Eduard didn’t want to know. He just wanted to know the warmth of Simon's lips.


End file.
